According to Dan Pontefract, author of “Lead. Carе. Win. How to Become a Leader Who Matters,” the most successful leaders do not rise above others and take advantage of their power and status. They try to be approachable, practice humility, and show care and respect. Pontefract believes that strong leaders share knowledge instead of just keeping it for themselves, and create diverse teams.
Strong leaders are approachable and empathetic
Leaders must prioritize creating meaningful and mutually beneficial relationships. People accept honest and caring leaders as relatable, and this inspires them to collaborate. Leaders often fail to be approachable because they don’t admit their mistakes or seek help when they need it. They unwisely pretend to be infallible. People who think of themselves as virtuous and fair, yet cannot admit when they are wrong, are dishonest with themselves.
The ego is not important, the common goal is
Leadership should be more than a personal quest for increased power. It should provide a sense of purpose, not a lust for power. Leaders have a responsibility to think about and define what they work for and what impact you can have.
Time management
Managers who tell employees to be more productive can intimidate them into working longer hours and taking on too many responsibilities. Productivity should refer to a leader’s willingness to help employees change bad behaviors, and increase their level of commitment so they can achieve better results.
For tasks that require a person to set aside time for focused work without interruption, the solution is timeboxing – finding blocks of time free from meetings and distracting tasks.
Lifelong learning
If a person embraces lifelong learning, people will perceive them as a more inspiring leader. Prioritizing learning is done by taking consistent action. For example, being assigned a team member who is afraid of public speaking to work with a colleague who is skilled at making presentations.
Accepting change
Taking advantage of new opportunities requires acceptance of change and of the inevitable degree of uncertainty. One’s ability to accept change is an important leadership quality. It helps people anticipate obstacles, reduces stress and anxiety, and leads others to perceive it as flexible and adaptable. People who embrace change grow as leaders by learning from challenging new situations rather than avoiding them.
Sharing is caring
One should not accumulate knowledge or information without sharing with their team for the purpose of getting ahead, as more often than not it has the opposite effect. Not sharing project information with the team can create unnecessary challenges and stress and hinder the team’s professional development.
Determination and clarity
Leaders who lack clarity and decisiveness often have negative traits, such as distractibility. They readily adopt new trends and so lose focus. In addition, they are indecisive about important issues. Leading with clarity and decisiveness gives leaders authenticity, making people more likely to support their visions and strategies.
